It is May Day 1592 and, after a night of revelry and a day tending the sick, Dr Simon Forman falls into bed utterly exhausted. Soon afterwards, he is woken by a man on his doorstep who is dying from a sword thrust, and next morning Simon is summoned to Whitehall, accused of harbouring enemies of the state.

To prove his innocence, he agrees to journey to Edinburgh on a secret spying mission. But once he enters the Borders between Scotland and England - where the bloodthirsty Reivers vow a 'life for a life' - he realises that death is stalking him. As one gruesome murder is closely followed by another, Simon must act quickly to identify a ruthless killer before his own life is put in jeopardy . . .

'Cook has written three other books set in the same period and she brings it effortlessly to life . . . she spins a fast and entertaining tale' Guardian
'Cook sets her scene well and gives a fine feeling of what the atmosphere of the time might have been like' Irish Times
'Cook is keen on fine historical detail and has obviously mastered her subject' Evening Standard
'Cook roots her exciting and readable novel firmly in the world of the playhouse's Financial Times
'A well-balanced thriller . . . intelligent and entertaining' TLS

Judith Cook was born and brought up in Manchester. She began her career as a journalist for the Guardian and went on to become a freelance writer, winning awards for investigative journalism and having several highly acclaimed works of fiction and non-fiction published. She is a part-time lecturer in Elizabethan and Jacobean theatre at Exeter University. Judith Cook lives in the fishing port of Newlyn in Cornwall with her partner and two cats.